Other Side of The Rainbow

Chapter 2

Once upon the same time, in a not-so-faraway land, there lived a young prince named Amis. He was the son of the king and the queen of the land of Furthermoor, second in line to inherit the throne after his father passes. Furthermoor was a kingdom neighbouring with Riverwood, and because of that the monarchs decided they were to join forces in the future, after their firstborns are of the age suitable to marry one another.

Before Amis, the royal couple had another son – Algernon. Born almost exactly ten years before his brother, he was very quick to learn all kinds of arts he had ever touched, be it archery, economics or floral arrangements. Having the kingdom's attention fixed on him at all times, Algernon was everyone's favourite prince, and even when Amis was born, it was Algernon who was on everybody's tongues.

- Oh, look at him! – people would say. – His highness is carrying his baby brother so gently. He will be an amazing father one day!

Algernon was to marry Isobel someday, that was obvious to everybody in both kingdoms. But everything has turned into dust one fateful day, when Amis was almost ten years old.

The older of two brothers has been swimming in his canoe all day, taking advantage of the fact that the river was 5 minutes walking distance from the castle. Both the king and the queen were seated at a blanket at the sunny riverside, and young Amis was laying on the grass and staring at the clouds up above.

Algernon was swimming to one side of this part of the river, to turn around and go the opposite side later, swinging back and forth between those two ends. He was focused on the slight pain in his back muscles, but didn't really bother with it. The sun was shining, birds were singing, and life couldn't possibly get any better.

That was, until the moment he saw it.

The prince was so focused on canoeing that he had to break really hard in his boat the moment he saw something shiny in the water. When he looked closer, he saw a heart-shaped locket stuck on a piece of alga.

Knowing that it must've been an incredibly important token to someone, Algernon wanted to get it out and try to find it's owner, whoever might that be.

He stopped and leaned forward a little bit, stretching his arm just to grab the locket and then quickly go back to his parents and little brother.

It didn't even take 10 seconds for the creature underwater to jolt up, grab the prince by his clothes, and take him underwater.

Hearing the commotion going on in the river, the king and the queen got up and walked up to the water, their faces getting more and more frightened as they were walking. Neither knew what to say, but finally the queen has spoken:

- Was... Was that a drowner? – asked she, her voice starting to break.

The king waited a few seconds before whispering hesistantly, knowing that what he's going to say will change their lives forever:

- I'm afraid it was, my dear.

That moment the queen has broken down crying, tears streamed down her face and wouldn't stop. Amis, seeing that there was something wrong with his mother, asked shakily:

- Dad...? Mum, dad, what happened to Algernon?

The king looked at his son with all the love and fear in this world. Right now it's just him. It's him who's going to marry Isobel, it's him who's going to inherit the throne in the future. He must be taken care of with every resource there was, he must stay with them and rule the kingdom one day. Was he ready? Certainly not, Amis is a child after all. But with enough love and care, combined with discipline and cautiousness everything will be fine.

It must be.

- Son... - said the king, kneeling and touching his son's arm gently. – Your brother is gone. He got taken away by one of the drowners living at the bottom of the river. I'm so sorry.

Amis' eyes became even more blue and more shiny than before, as two streams of huge tears rolled down his cheeks.

- W-w-well then, get him back!!! He can't, he promised me, he can't be gone, he can't be... Dead.

- Honey... – said the queen, reaching out trying to hug her son.

- Leave me alone – hissed Amis, and ran away to the castle, trying to hide the tears from everyone he saw on his way.

It was the day that changed it all, for Amis, his parents, and the whole kingdom of Furthermoor.

The number of people who attended Algernon's funeral was off the charts. People from all neighbouring kingdoms gathered, standing above an empty grave, throwing flowers at it and crying on each other's arms.

And as much as everybody wanted to give in to sadness, they knew it was impossible.

Shortly after the prince's funeral the royal couple of Riverwood visited, together with their daughter. Isobel and Amis were introduced to each other once again, this time as the future bride and groom. Even though it wasn't even close to what either of them wanted, they started to spend more time together and soon enough it's safe to say that they became inseparable.

It was also a time of even bigger changes in Amis himself. He started a training that his father requested he takes, and it included swordfights, politics, history, geography, and mythology, just in case. Amis started to change in ways he never wanted. He had to become colder, had to push away the leftovers of his childhood and start to become the prince his kingdom needed. Even though violence was never his choice of method of coping with conflict.

Years passed, and he grew up to be a perfect prince. Tall, dark-haired, blue-eyed, he was a tasty morsel for all the marriageable ladies around. He was kind, warm, cute (he didn't think it was suitable for a prince to be "cute" and always hissed internally when anybody called him that. He wasn't cute, he knew how to fight and was very dangerous) and had an incredible ability to always find a way to one's heart. He never had the chance to use it in romance thought, but thanks to it he knew people, knew what they did and didn't like, knew all their weaknesses and could easily use this knowledge to destroy families and countries all around the world.

He never did though. He knew the value of human life and dignity, and he would never sell it for power or influences.

All the people who ever came his way, talked to him for even just 5 minutes, always would remember him as the person they felt at home with, even if they came from far, far away.